Guides

The finds pages report what other people dug up. These are the other half: things worth knowing before you go out, and before you dig.

Beach detecting: the rules, the tides and the salt

The Crown Estate foreshore conditions most detectorists never read, National Trust beaches, wreck law, rings and phones, tide safety, and keeping salt water out of your detector.

25 September 2026 · Law last checked 25 September 2026
Found something? What to do next

Safety first, when to stop digging, recording the findspot with what3words, why not to clean it, whether it might be Treasure, and who to tell, and how fast, in England, Wales, Scotland and both parts of Ireland.

25 September 2026 · Law last checked 25 September 2026
How to read a metal detector's signals

Tones, target ID numbers and the one test that matters most: whether a signal repeats. Why hammered silver reads so much lower than a chart suggests, and how to learn your own machine.

24 September 2026
Detector finds on eBay: what can legally be sold, and where

England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland compared: Treasure, export licences, the law on buying looted objects, and what a proper listing should tell you.

24 September 2026 · Law last checked 24 September 2026

Before you dig

Finding things is the easy part. These are the people who make a find count for something.

The Code of Conduct NCMD — permission in writing, backfill your holes, report what matters
Find your Finds Liaison Officer PAS — the person who records your find properly, free of charge
Search the PAS database Over a million recorded objects, and a good way to identify your own
National Council for Metal Detecting Advice on permissions, landowner agreements and insurance

Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland

Those four are for England and Wales, where the Portable Antiquities Scheme records finds and the Treasure Act decides what must be reported.

Scotland runs its own system, and every find is reportable there — not only treasure. Treasure Trove Unit ›

The Republic of Ireland is different again, and severely so. Searching for archaeological objects without the Minister’s written consent is a criminal offence carrying fines or imprisonment, and the definition is broad enough to cover coins, buttons and buckles of almost any age. Do not assume British rules travel with you. The law, from the National Museum ›

Northern Ireland is stricter still. The Treasure Act applies and finds go to National Museums NI within fourteen days, but any searching that involves digging — metal detecting expressly included — needs a licence, and licences are only granted for archaeological projects. National Museums NI ›

This site covers discoveries from all over the world, and so does the variation in the law — from a recording scheme that thanks you, to a criminal offence. Wherever you are searching, find out what applies there before you go, not after.

Found something? What to do next › · Buying or selling a find? What is legal to sell, and where ›